Title: Evaluating the quality of life: a case study in Barranquilla, Colombia

Authors: Erick Calvo; Mario Ferrer; Ricardo Santa

Addresses: Programa de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Atlantico, Km 7 Antigua Via Puerto Colombia Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia ' Department of Operations and Project Management, College of Business, Alfaisal University, P.O. Box 50927. Riyadh 11533, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ' School of Management, Colegio de Estudios Superiores de Administración (CESA), Cll 35 No. 5A-31, Bogota, Colombia

Abstract: Quality of life is a fundamental measure that is commonly evaluated worldwide. This is the case of Barranquilla, Colombia, a developing economy where the quality of life has become a very important issue in the last ten years. This research attempts to develop a measurement of the quality of life (QOL) perceived by the citizens of Barranquilla, one of the largest cities in Colombia. Even though this city looks like a promising beautiful and modern place to settle, some government malpractices and a lack of law enforcement challenge its sustainability and livability. The importance of this work is twofold. First, to our knowledge, it is the first study that evaluates factors contributing to measuring QOL at the city level. Second, it contributes to the literature by developing a reliable multivariate model that tests the explanatory power of three key impactful QOL factors in city-based communities such as of Barranquilla. Through rigorous statistical analysis, researchers found that factors such as political environment, security, and crime significantly affect the explanatory power of QOL.

Keywords: quality of life; QOL; security; crime; political environment; culture; Colombia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSOC.2024.142724

International Journal of Sustainable Society, 2024 Vol.16 No.4, pp.343 - 362

Received: 09 Sep 2021
Received in revised form: 20 Oct 2022
Accepted: 26 Oct 2022
Published online: 19 Nov 2024 *

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